Hong Kong (AFP) Sept 6, 2017
A Kenyan park ranger who said his closest friend was shot dead while protecting elephants urged Hong Kong not to compensate the city's ivory traders in an emotive speech to lawmakers on Wednesday.
Hong Kong is a major hub for ivory sales and last year announced that it would introduce a total ban on the trade.
But authorities later clarified they would only completely abolish the trade by 2021, drawing criticism they were dragging their feet and trailing China, where officials last year pledged ... read more

Mexico, Russia eye energy trade relationsWashington (UPI) Sep 5, 2017
Structural reforms in the energy sector could lead to greater bilateral trade between Mexico and Russia, Mexico's president said from a regional summit. ... more

Tributes to wetter times on MarsParis (ESA) Jul 14, 2017
A dried-out river valley with numerous tributaries is seen in this recent view of the Red Planet captured by ESA's Mars Express.
This section of the Libya Montes region, which sits on the equator a ... more

Villagers in Niger 'massacre' 27 hipposNiamey (AFP) July 13, 2017 At least 27 hippos have been slaughtered in a touristy zone in western Niger by villagers who blame them for destroying crops and harming livestock, local authorities said on Thursday. ... more

Anxious Houston storm victims come home, dig outHouston (AFP) Sept 2, 2017 Maline Johnney knew it was going to be bad when she returned to her Houston home after Hurricane Harvey. But she was unprepared for the mess - and the stench - when she opened the door. ... more

Nigeria floods displace more than 100,000Lagos (AFP) Aug 31, 2017 More than 100,000 people have had to flee their homes after heavy rains and flooding in Nigeria's southeastern Benue state, President Muhammadu Buhari said late Thursday. ... more

'Tsunami-sunk' Roman ruins discovered in TunisiaNabeul, Tunisia (AFP) Aug 31, 2017 Vast underwater Roman ruins have been discovered off northeast Tunisia, apparently confirming a theory that the city of Neapolis was partly submerged by a tsunami in the 4th century AD. ... more

Scientists developed 'smart fertilizer'Krasnoyarsk, Russia (SPX) Sep 07, 2017
According to the head of the works Tatiana Volova, Professor of SibFU and the Head of Laboratory in the Institute of Biophysics KSC of SB RAS, development of a new generation of drugs with the use of bio-decomposable materials which decompose under the influence of the microflora to innocuous products and provide a gradual release of the active principle into the soil, is the newest area of rese ... more

More 'losers' than 'winners' predicted for Southern Ocean seafloor animalsLondon, UK (SPX) Sep 07, 2017
A new study of the marine invertebrates living in the seas around Antarctica reveals there will be more 'losers' than 'winners' over the next century as the Antarctic seafloor warms. The results are published in the journal Nature Climate Change this week (Monday 4 September).
A team at British Antarctic Survey (BAS) examined the potential distribution of over 900 species of shelf-dwelling ... more

Italy's drought seen from spaceParis (ESA) Sep 07, 2017
Despite the welcome showers at the weekend, abnormally low soil-moisture conditions persist in central Italy. Scientists are using satellite data to monitor the drought that has gripped the country. Wildfires, water scarcity and billions of euros worth of damage to agriculture are just some of the effects of this summer's drought in Italy - not to mention the relentless heat. News of potential w ... more

New records for the solar cell of tomorrowZurich, Switzerland (SPX) Aug 28, 2017
The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), CSEM and EPFL have taken an important symbolic step forward. Working together, they were able to demonstrate the high potential of silicon-based multijunction solar cells: they raised the one-sun record conversion efficiency of III-V/Si solar cells to 32.8% for two junctions and 35.9% for three junctions.
These ac ... more

Reusable ruthenium-based catalyst could be a game-changer for the biomass industryTokyo, Japan (SPX) Sep 04, 2017
Known for their outstanding versatility, primary amines (derivatives of ammonia) are industrially important compounds used in the preparation of a wide range of dyes, detergents and medicines.
Although many attempts have been made to improve their synthesis using catalysts containing nickel, palladium and platinum, for example, few have succeeded in reducing the formation of secondary and ... more

US House of Representatives approves Harvey emergency reliefWashington (AFP) Sept 6, 2017 The US House of Representatives Wednesday approved in a nearly unanimous vote $7.85-billion in emergency aid for victims of Hurricane Harvey, a rare show of unity by the bitterly divided chamber.
Lawmakers in the lower house of Congress voted 419-3 in favor of releasing the funds, which will mostly go to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The House also approved $450 millio ... more

Study quantifies potential for water reuse in permian basin oil productionAustin TX (SPX) Sep 07, 2017
Hydraulic fracturing has once again made the Permian Basin that stretches across western Texas and New Mexico one of the richest oil fields in the world. But the improved reserves come with some serious water management issues. Drilling for oil uses water upfront, and brings up large volumes of water that needs to be managed.
New research led by The University of Texas at Austin Bureau of ... more

Goldman Sachs halts advising work on HNA unit: sourceNew York (AFP) Sept 6, 2017
Goldman Sachs suspended work for an affiliate of Chinese conglomerate HNA that has been under increased scrutiny by the Chinese government, a person familiar with the situation said Wednesday.
The US investment bank had been enlisted in August to manage a stock offering of HNA outsourcing business Pactera. But Goldman Sachs concluded the financial structure of the Pactera business was too o ... more

Huge Australia-bound cocaine haul siezed by French navySydney (AFP) Aug 4, 2017
A massive cocaine haul bound for Australia in the hull of a yacht has been intercepted by the French navy in the Pacific, officials said on Friday.
The 1.46 tonnes of the drug with an estimated street value of Aus$322 million (US$256 million) was seized in the South Pacific and four crew members, believed to be Lithuanian and Latvian nationals, arrested.
The vessel "Afalina", which set s ... more

Texas makes wind energy stridesWashington (UPI) Sep 6, 2017
Two wind farms in Texas will become the second- and third-largest facilities with extra storage capacity installed so far, a German power company said.
German energy company E.ON said it started construction on a 20 megawatt storage facility to service its Inadale and Pyron wind facilities in the west of Texas.
"With both the industrial-scale 10 MW plants, E.ON is expanding its r ... more

Invasive plants change ecosystems from the bottom upKingston RI (SPX) Sep 07, 2017
In a common garden at the University of Rhode Island, Laura Meyerson has been growing specimens of Phragmites - also known as the common reed - that she has collected from around the world. And while they are all the same species, each plant lineage exhibits unique traits.
Now Meyerson, a professor of natural resources sciences, and Northeastern University Professor Jennifer Bowen have rev ... more

Russia-linked Facebook accounts stoked US divisionsSan Francisco (AFP) Sept 6, 2017
Facebook said Wednesday an internal review showed that hundreds of Russia-linked fake accounts were used to buy ads aimed at inflaming political tensions ahead of and following the 2016 US presidential election.
The review triggered by concerns about organized efforts to deceptively use the leading social network to influence US politics uncovered accounts that may have been part of an orche ... more

Large-scale study of genetic data shows humans still evolvingNew York NY (SPX) Sep 07, 2017
In a study analyzing the genomes of 210,000 people in the United States and Britain, researchers at Columbia University find that the genetic variants linked to Alzheimer's disease and heavy smoking are less frequent in people with longer lifespans, suggesting that natural selection is weeding out these unfavorable variants in both populations.
Researchers further find that sets of genetic ... more

Israel hits Syria site reportedly used for chemical weaponsDamascus (AFP) Sept 7, 2017 Syria said Israeli air strikes hit a military facility in the country's west on Thursday, killing two people at a site where the regime has been accused of developing chemical weapons.
The site near the Syrian town of Masyaf, between the central city of Hama and a port used by the Russian navy, includes a training camp and a branch of the Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC).
Th ... more

Deforestation long overlooked as contributor to climate changeIthaca NY (SPX) Sep 07, 2017
When it comes to tackling climate change, the focus often falls on reducing the use of fossil fuels and developing sustainable energy sources. But a new Cornell University study shows that deforestation and subsequent use of lands for agriculture or pasture, especially in tropical regions, contribute more to climate change than previously thought.
The new paper, "Are the Impacts of Land Us ... more

Ex-minister questioned as Israel submarine graft probe widensJerusalem (AFP) Sept 4, 2017
Israeli police questioned a former minister and a political advisor Monday as a probe widened over suspected corruption in the purchase of submarines for Israel's navy from Germany's ThyssenKrupp.
The remand of Eliezer Sandberg, who was science minister in 2003 and served as infrastructure minister in 2004, was extended till Wednesday after questioning, police said.
Rami Tayeb, an adviso ... more

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